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Brindabella airline placed in receivership

· Employees should fight for Qantas, says Abbott

Regional airline Brindabella has been placed in receivership days after the civil aviation watchdog grounded the company’s fleet.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) grounded four of Brindabella’s Jetstream aircraft in November and on Thursday ordered the company’s remaining six planes pulled from service.

Brindabella had reported to CASA several planes had been “over run” for a year – meaning the aircraft had not undergone maintenance checks or had parts replaced in line with manufacturers’ schedules.

On Sunday, KordaMentha was appointed the receivers and managers of the Canberra-based airline.

Brindabella, which also encompasses Aeropelican Air, has indefinitely suspended all of its flights.

KordaMentha will also call for expressions of interest for the airline’s sale.

KordaMentha spokesman Michael Smith said the cost and frequency of maintenance and the CASA groundings had contributed to Brindabella’s situation.

“Clearly the airline had maintenance issues which led to some groundings and that is part of the troubles the airline has,” he told AAP.

Qantas, which is facing its own financial struggles, will provide discounted airfares to Brindabella customers on some regional routes.

David Winterbottom from KordaMentha said receivers were also in urgent discussions with the NSW Government about other replacement services.

Meetings will be held with Brindabella’s 140 employees on Monday.

Brindabella carried about 125,000 passengers last year with services from Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane to regional towns including Tamworth, Newcastle and Coffs Harbour.

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